Remember Chimoio as ED takes over

IT is befitting that the second Executive President of an independent Zimbabwe, Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa, is being inaugurated just a day after commemorating the attack of ZANLA military headquarters, Chimoio, in Mozambique, by Ian Smith’s army.
The sprawling ZANLA site was then the embodiment of the armed struggle that sought to bring black majority rule in Zimbabwe and everything that it entailed.
With bases like the Chitepo School of Ideology, the objectives of sacrificing life in order to free Zimbabwe from the colonial yoke were very clear.
Once independence was achieved, the aspirations of the surviving cadres were very clear.
Under the leadership of former President Robert Mugabe, quite a number of these were achieved, though some need to be improved upon.
We have our land and the feeling of inferiority complex forced upon us by our white colonial masters has been completely wiped out in Zimbabwe.
The whole list is for another publication.
But for now it is suffice for the world to know that Cde Mugabe remains our hero.
When the people cheered in the streets when President Mugabe resigned, it was for very different reasons for those of either Tony Blair or George Bush.
For us Zimbabweans, we happily accepted that our president had to rest.
However, for Zimbabweans, the revolutionary banner with the invisible message of those who perished at Chimoio and elsewhere during the armed struggle remains very legible.
Hopes are high that the incoming President, Cde Mnangagwa will deliver.
Why not for a genuine revolutionary like him who has gone through the revolutionary mill from boyhood.
Just as Cde Mnangagwa was aware of the expectations of those children from Chindunduma Camp who perished at Chimoio on November 23 1977, he must by now be aware of the expectations of the thousands of those who welcomed him on Wednesday.
They are fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins and whatever else of those who perished at Chimoio.
He must have realised that he hit the nail on the head when in informal remarks at the ZANU PF headquarter he said one of the expectations were, “Jobs, jobs, jobs.”
That is only but one of the major expectations of the Chimoio survivors.
Other issues include the availability of cash at banks and medicines in hospitals, fair pricing of goods, investment and unity.
This is not to forget about corruption – a scourge that seems to have sunk its roots in the Zimbabwean society.
Even when General Constantino Guveya Chiwenga intervened to save ZANU PF, he said their main task, in order to restore legacy, was to free President Mugabe of corrupt officials who had surrounded him.
The onus is now on President Designate to widen the net, so that more corrupt elements may be weeded out of our society.
Peace is a priced asset.
Cde Mnangagwa on his arrival commended on the peaceful nature in which people demonstrated and welcomed him in thousands without any incidences of lawlessness.
Indeed, the image of Zimbabweans as a peace-loving and well organised polity has enhanced our image worldwide
Our aspirations will definitely come to nought if they are fulfilled in an environment of lawlessness.
There is credence in the argument by some political students that: The overriding function of a state is the maintenance of law and order.
We expect President Designate Mnangagwa to try his best to deliver.
But he must remember that like in the days of the armed struggle when Smith released his entire air force to go and bomb Chimoio, already some gremlins are drooling at the opportunity to derail all his programmes.
So, vigilance still remains the key word.
We expect the spirit of resilience to be now part President Designate Mnangagwa’s DNA.
After the bombing of Chimoio, surviving cadres did not just sit down with folded arms lamenting at the destruction.
Instead, they were emboldened and sought immediate revenge by attacking Grand Reef, killing several Rhodesian soldiers.
The eventual result was Smith’s surrender at Lancaster House.
We wish President Designate Munangagwa resounding success as he ushers in a new era.